


Protecting the Protector

by bettername2come



Series: Protecting the Protector [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Family, Gen, Marvel Characters Named May Are Not To Be Trifled With, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 14:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11488719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettername2come/pseuds/bettername2come
Summary: May Parker finds out how Peter has been spending his time the last few months, and she has some words for Tony Stark.





	Protecting the Protector

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts that would not leave my head after the end of the movie.

“What the fuck?” May Parker shouted.

Peter Parker could count on one hand the number of times Aunt May has dropped the f-bomb when she knew he was listening, so he knows she’s pissed off, like he knew she would be.  Which is why he’d tried to keep this from her in the first place.

Peter turned around slowly, mask in hand. “Uh, it’s a cosplay?” he said weakly.

May crossed her arms. “Bullshit. Try again.”

“Okay, um.” Peter sighed. “I’m Spider-Man.”

May rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know that part.” She stood there waiting for some kind of additional explanation, while Peter racked his brain trying to figure out what he needed to say to her to keep him from being grounded till he graduated. College. After a moment of just staring at each other, May uncrossed her arms and reached for the door. “You’ve got two minutes to put on something less ridiculous and meet me in the living room.”

She slammed the door shut and retreated back to the kitchen to pour herself a large glass of wine. This was not a conversation she had ever thought she would have to have with Peter, certainly not alone. God, she wished Ben were here. He’d know what to say to get through to Peter. She took a sip of her wine and headed for the couch. Okay, fine, maybe he wouldn’t, but at least she wouldn’t be doing this part by herself. She wondered vaguely if there was a YouTube tutorial on how to talk to your kid about his newfound superpowers.

Peter’s bedroom door opened and he walked in slowly, dressed in jean in a t-shirt and sat down in the chair across from May. “So, uh, on a scale of one to ten, how mad are you?”

“Mad? I don’t think ‘mad’ is gonna cover it, Peter.” She took a deep breath. “How long?”

“How long what?”

“How long have you been lying to me, Peter? ‘Cause you sure haven’t had these powers your whole life. I’m not that unobservant.” Right? She hadn’t just overlooked this for the past ten years, had she?

Peter stared at the carpet. “Eight months.”

“Eight months?” May repeated and she honestly wasn’t sure if she’d expected it to be longer or shorter than that. “So before…”

Peter nodded, still not meeting her eyes. “Yeah. Before.”

“How?”

“I got bit by a spider.”

“A spider bite. You’re telling me this all happened because of a _spider bite_?”

“I think it’s safe to say this was not a normal spider.”

“Yeah, obviously,” May replied.

“I mean, I didn’t think anything of it when it happened and then,” – he gestured towards himself – “everything happened, and I didn’t want to freak you out, but I wanted to help people, so I made a costume and I went out there, and I wasn’t gonna tell anybody, but then Mr. Stark saw the YouTube videos –“

“Mr. Stark? Tony Stark knows you’re Spider-Man? So that whole Stark internship is a lie?”

“Technically I am working for Mr. Stark, and you know, learning the ropes, so it’s kind of an internship.”

“You were supposed to be learning science,” May snapped. “That son of a bitch came into my home and lied to my face about where he was taking you and why! God, and you came home hurt, and you lied to me about it!”

“I didn’t lie. Steve from Brooklyn gave me the black eye.”

“Steve from… _CAPTAIN AMERICA_ gave you a black eye?!”

“Yes,” Peter said in a small voice.

“Does Captain America know who you are? ‘Cause I got to tell you Peter, I’m really feeling left out of the loop on this one.”

“No, just Mr. Stark. And his head of security. And Ned. And Liz’s dad.”     

“Liz’s dad? Liz’s dad who tried to kill you knows who you are?!”

“This is why I didn’t want you to know! I knew you’d freak out.”

“Damn right, I’m freaking out. You’ve been lying to me, Peter. For _months._ And going out putting yourself in danger, with _Tony Stark_ of all people, and I just – “ May stopped and took a deep breath. “Give me your phone.”

“What?”

“Give me your phone.”

Peter passed the phone over. Yeah, grounded. Definitely grounded forever. No phone. No Spider-Man. Nowhere but home and school for, like, ever. He knew this was gonna happen.

May surprised him as she began scrolling through his contacts.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m looking for Tony Stark’s number,” she said without looking up. “Is it under T, S or I?”

“You can’t call him!”

“The hell I can’t,” May replied. She sighed, eyes still locked on the phone. “Peter, you’re a kid. You’re supposed to make dumbass decisions, it’s part of growing up. I know. I made my share of them. Tony Stark, on the other hand, is an adult. He’s supposed to know better, so I can and will call him and find out what the hell he was thinking. Damn it, where is his number?!”

 “I don’t actually, uh, have his personal number,” Peter said.

“Then how is he contacting you? Email, Skype, some top-secret, superhero-only communication device?”

Peter decided that mentioning Karen and the communication features in the suit would be a bad idea. He gestured towards the phone. “Happy Hogan. Mr. Stark’s head of security.”

May nodded, finding the contact and making the call over Peter’s protests.

On the third ring, Happy answered. “I just dropped you off, kid, you can’t possibly have gotten yourself into trouble that quickly.”

“You’d be surprised,” May answered, studying Peter and judging by his reaction he can hear what Happy’s saying. “This is May Parker. I’m trying to reach Mr. Stark.”

“I, uh,” Happy stuttered before regaining his composure. “What is this in regard to?”

“In regard to him flying my nephew halfway around the world without my permission and putting him in dangerous situations he had no business being in,” May said.

“Um, Mr. Stark’s busy at the moment. Could I have him call you when he gets in?”

“Listen, Mr. – Hogan, is it? – if Mr. Stark doesn’t want me speaking to every blogger, news outlet and government agency about the fact that Iron Man is recruiting kids to fight his battles for him, he will be at my door within an hour. We both know he can beat the traffic.” She ended the call and tucked the phone into her pocket. “I’ll just hold on to this a little while longer.

Peter stared at his aunt with wide eyes. “You wouldn’t, like, actually tell anybody would you? I mean, that was a bluff. You were bluffing, right?” he asked.

May pointed towards Peter’s bedroom. “Go to your room. We’ll finish talking when Stark gets here.”

Peter rose to his feet and headed to his room. He closed the door and leaned his head back against it. “I am so dead.” _Maybe I should just make a run for it,_ he thought.

“And Peter Benjamin Parker, don’t even _think_ about going out that window!”

Peter sighed. _So dead._

Forty-five minutes later there was a knock on the door. May opened, to see Tony Stark standing there in a dark suit. She crossed her arms. “You picked the business suit. That’s a bold choice.”

“The other one’s parked on the roof,” Tony replied. “It tends to make the civilians twitchy when there’s not an alien or demi-god around. May I come in?”

May backed up, sweeping her arm towards the living room.

Tony walked towards the living room. “I’d sit down, but I’m thinking you might prefer to yell at me while we’re both standing. That bluff about calling the media, it was a good one. But we both know you couldn’t do that without naming the kid involved and you’d never put Peter in that kind of danger.”

“No, you seem to have that part covered,” May said. “What were you thinking putting a fifteen-year-old kid in the middle of a battle between superheroes?”

“I was thinking he could do it,” Tony said. “And I was right.”

“He could’ve been killed!”

“Let’s be real here, for a moment. None of those people were fighting to kill.” Tony held up a finger. “Okay, King T’Challa was out to kill, but he was on our side and just gunning for the Winter Soldier.”

“You realize you’re really not helping your case right now?”

“Yeah, I’m starting to see that. You know, I take back what I said earlier, this might be more of a sit-down kind of situation.” Tony settled down on the couch.

May sat down across from him. “What makes you think the rules don’t apply to you? You have a whole battle with _Captain America_ about regulations and accepting limitations and you kidnap a kid and sneak him out of the country to fight on your side in a battle he didn’t even have a stake in.”

“I didn’t _kidnap_ anyone!” Tony said, just a touch too defensively.

May took a deep breath, remembering Tony had his own set of issues. “I know Peter wanted to go.  He idolizes you. Inside the suit and out. But he’s fifteen. He can’t just leave the country without permission. He doesn’t even have a passport.”

“He did mention that.”

“What would you have done if something had happened to him? If he came home really hurt? Or worse?”

“Started on an intense cycle of shame and self-loathing that would ultimately lead to some very poor decision making,” Tony said. “I’m gonna say something I don’t say very often, so you probably want to pay attention: I was wrong. And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put the kid – “ May raised her eyebrows – “Peter in harm’s way. I realized that. I tried to correct it. But taking the suit back didn’t stop him from putting _himself_ in harm’s way to do the right thing. I could take the suit, walk out that door and never look back and it wouldn’t stop him from having those powers, and it’s wouldn’t stop him from being the person you and your husband raised him to be. Peter is an amazing kid.”

“I know he is.”

“Do you? Because this is a kid that saved the life of someone who tried to kill him. Who almost got himself killed trying to save a ferry full of people. Who created a webbing I haven’t been able to duplicate after two months of studying it. He’s an abundantly kind, smart person. One of the best I’ve ever met, and I’ve met some of the best.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that he is still a kid. He’s in high school. He can’t drive. He can’t sign legal documents, including those accords you were so keen on making the Avengers sign. He’s not ready for that.”

“I know that,” Tony said. “More importantly, he knows that.”

“So where exactly does that leave us?”

Tony shrugged. “Why don’t we ask the kid what he thinks? Since he’s been listening to us this whole time anyway.” He turned towards Peter’s door expectantly, and slowly the knob turned and Peter peered out sheepishly.

“Hey,” he said.

“So you’ve got all these enhanced spider senses, and you couldn’t tell your aunt was standing right behind you?”

“They’re better at seeking out threats,” Peter said. “May’s not a threat. Except maybe to my superhero career.”

“Sit down, Peter,” May said. He did. “What is it you want?”

“I want – I want to help people,” Peter said. “I know that sounds lame and way too simple, but it’s the truth. I have these powers and I’m supposed to do something good with them, I know I am. I don’t want to lie to you, and I don’t want to freak you out, but if you tell me I can’t be Spider-Man anymore, we both know I’m gonna do it anyway eventually.”

“I can say from experience that that is definitely true,” Tony piped up.

“Just tell me what it’s going to take to keep me doing this, May. Whatever you say, I’ll do it, but, but I gotta do this,” Peter said. “I can’t just let the bad things happen. Not anymore.”

May froze for a second, the memory of a police officer in her doorway flashing in her mind, but she quickly pushed it away. She couldn’t focus on that fear right now. She had to think about Peter, what was best for Peter.

“No more leaving the country,” May said. Peter nodded his head enthusiastically. “If something comes up out of the country. We’ll deal with it when the time comes, but no more surprise trips to Europe. I don’t even want you going to Jersey without telling me, you got it?”

“Yes, definitely.”

“No accords. No working for the government. Stark, you were right. I don’t trust them with Peter’s identity, especially not that Ross character.”

“For what it’s worth, I don’t like him either,” Tony said. “Neither does Banner.”

“Well, something we can all agree on,” May said. She focused on Peter. “So you stay here. You do your – “ she sighed – “your superhero thing here. You will get your homework done. You will not sneak out of this house anymore, and you will not do anything that is going to give me a heart attack, you got it?”

“Yes, totally. Definitely. Thank you, Aunt May.” Peter jumped forward and wrapped his aunt in a tight hug.

“I’m not finished,” May said. Peter pulled back, and May turned her gaze toward Tony. “You are going to give him a real internship. Something that will get him actual scientific experience that he can put on a college application. And an extremely powerful letter of recommendation that will bring a tear to the eye of whoever reads it. And you’re going to listen to him. He is going to get backup. No more of this taking on illegal arms dealers by himself. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tony said with only a trace of irony.

“I reserve the right to change these rules when necessary,” May said. “But for now, you can keep being Spider-Man.”

“Well, now that that’s settled, I better be getting back before my fiancée thinks she’s got another PR disaster on her hands,” Tony said, rising to his feet.

“Fiancée?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, it’s been a _really_ busy day,” Tony replied. “Adios, Parkers.”  He closed the door behind him.

“So if everything’s cool, I should probably head out on patrol,” Peter said, getting to his feet.

“Oh, no way,” May said. “You are not going anywhere tonight.  You are _so_ grounded.”

“But, May, you said – “

“You fled the country, Peter!”

“I’ll be in my room.”


End file.
